King Abdullah chairs Cabinet session

June 14, 2010

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz began the Cabinet meeting in Jeddah today with a briefing on his recent contacts with visiting officials, including Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Commander of U.S. forces in Iraq Gen. Raymond Odierno and Chinese Special Envoy for the Middle East Wu Seekeh.

The Cabinet listened to reports on regional developments, focusing particularly on the occupied Palestinian territories. It reiterated its condemnation of Israeli policies and demanded that the international community work to restore the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. The ministers expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the 3rd Arab-Turkish Forum, held last week in Istanbul, expressing hope that the dialogue will promote cooperation and mutual understanding between the Arab states and Turkey. They also praised the First World Conference for the Teaching of the Holy Quran, which was convened last week in Jeddah under the auspices of King Abdullah.

Turning to its weekly agenda, the Council approved a proposal to exempt persons with disabilities from paying visa and residence fees for drivers, maids and nurses; authorized the Foreign Minister to sign a draft agreement on general cooperation with Lithuania; approved a memorandum of understanding for cooperation between the Saudi Ministry of Higher Education and the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education; approved the restructuring of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Industrial Development Fund for a period of three years; authorized the Minister of Commerce and Industry to sign two draft programs of technical cooperation with the British Ministry of Trade, Investment and Small Enterprises and the Swedish Council for Trade; and approved a number of measures regarding government oversight of two homes for the mentally ill.

The Cabinet approved the appointment of Abdel-Karim Al-Fawzan as Undersecretary of the Ministry for Planning and Development at the Ministry of Water and Electricity (15th rank); Dr. Hamoud Alkanaan as Director of the Center for Crime Prevention at the Ministry of the Interior (14th rank); and Abdulaziz Al-Hasan as Director General of Administrative and Financial Affairs at the Ministry of Justice (14th rank).